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Belfast clinics treatment feedback and chat

Hi Ladies
Im new to this site, but sadley not to IVF! Is there anyone out there attending the RFC in Belfast?
I'm about to start my 'last' go on the rollercoaster, im hoping to get off in approx 10 mths time with a bundle of joy (arnet we all)
Im excited and scared all in one go! This is our last chance, if it doesnt work then we have to get used to the fact that we will never have a child together!
My DH has no children of his own, but is a great step dad (and father) to 'our' girls (aged 17 and 19) but i would truley love to give him the joy of holding his own son/daughter!
I am due to start stmming on day 21 of my AF (25th March) is there anyone else starting around this time - it would be great to have a cycle buddie to keep me company along the way?
Bec Xxx

Found spray worse, injections not a problem so far once you get over sticking a needle into your self!
Good days and bad, got signed off work this week think i under estimated how i would feel. My husband thinks i am mad, maybe i am. tried to make room for the toaster in the fridge this morning!! My brain just seems to have stopped working.
Fingers crossed for you on wed!!!

I know the feeling. i didnt use the spray and opted for the injections to down regulate, didnt fancy the spray and responded well to it the last ivf, so asked for it here. I actually down regulated (wait for it) for 5 and a half weeks before i started stimms - they couldnt fit me in for EC until Wed, so i had to wait (so to speak)

I seem to be much better this time around than the last - maybe it has summit to do with, i know what to expect this time - or as they say - been there done that kind of thing!

I wish i had opted for the injections to down reg. had bloods done last tue and levels were far to high, was put back a week. but by period arrived friday morning so i phoned and ended up back on track!!
Dont know weather i am coming or going. never know whats going to happen next.
Staff are lovely but feel like i was left in the dark a bit.
Glad im not loosing my mind though, well not permantly anyway.

This post has been edited 2 times, last edit by "becks1906" (May 12th 2008, 1:39pm)

Wot DR are u under - im DR Willaimson (woman) she is the loveliest DR i have ever met in my life. I havent dealt with any others there mind, my last IVF was at the Origin clinic which is private - moe one to one there - but i still like the Royal (will like it even more if i get a BFP lol)

its the balmoral show starting on Wednesday isnt it??? Jeeze, suppost i will have to leave the house extra extra early - we have an hour or so drive!!

we are under her too, she is great. made us feel so relaxed. She put us both as ease. only one we have seen up there. never saw the same person twice in altnagelvin which was stressful, never knew what to expect, half the time they could bearly speak english, although im sure they knew what they were doing!
We had most investigations done in altnagelivn so only attending the royal for the last year. waiting list for our board was short at least, we were only put on in november.
We live in derry so takes at least an hour and a half more with road works at toome. we normally leave at 5.45 for 8am app, so its an early start. couldnt go without shower or washing my hair it is so greasy.
Balmoral will make it worse.
Fingers crossed it will all be worth it.

Ohhhhhhh my hair is soooooooooooo greasy too - its these dam drugs - i have to wash mine EVERY day, and by the end of the evening its greasy again!

There is another girl on here from up ur way - ive spoken to her just the once, she doesnt get on as often - not sure what happened to her .... Im from Armagh, so about an hour an 15 mins usually gets us there ontime, so gonna have to leave earlier on Wed with the show going on ....

Ive never even heard of altnagelivn sorry - where is that? I tht there was only the Origin and The Royal ....

Its not just me then, i could fry chips in my hair!! only just had it dyed normally have to use super strength conditioner!
Altnagelvin is hospital in derry, they only do basics. dye tests and such.
found one other person from here star, not sure if she is rvh though. nice to meet someone else attending same place.
Im really from dungannon met my DH when i was at uni up here and stayed. He is learning to give me a hug and shut up instead of trying to fix everything!! He is great really. I feel sorry for him his nice wife has turned into a greasy haired, forgetful mad woman! if you dont laugh at yourself i think you really would go mad.

It went fine last night (11pm) in tomorrow now at 11am - have to leave an hour earlier than normal tho cos of the balmoral show (DAM THING!)

Im feeling very tired today tho, and can feel lots going on in there - im starting to waddle a bit and my back is sore - jeeze, looking back at all that, dont sound like im doing too well does it lol ...

What about u? How are u feeling? Ur having ur scan on Thursday yes? They prob wont tell u much to be honest - ur 2nd scan will be the follie one - they will just check to see if ur stimulating ok and not over stimulating. Its nice to go tho, just for ur own peace of mind ....

HI, hope your egg collection went well . I hope you are feeling ok. how was it? Im feeling ok today, been cleaning the BBQ. DH cleaning the garage, was no work for him today, not looking good there, more stress. think possitive, yes i am talking to myself again. scan in the morning, i hope everything is ok. egg collection should be thurs 22nd if all ok.
sending you
When you back up friday ??

This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "becks1906" (May 14th 2008, 4:53pm)

I will, we are up at 8.15. DH has decided we are going to balmoral show after!
My sister has horses up there tomorrow. doesnt know we are doing ivf though.
Fingers crossed, will be thinking of you at 10.20. wont get logged on till tomorrow eve to see how you got on. really hope you little embie is the one.

We have a normal healthy fertalized embie waiting for mum and dad, we are going to collect him/her tomorrow at 2.30pm .... to say we are over the moon wud be an understatememt - we both cried in each others arms this morning after getting our news, to realise how lucky we are to have come this far is another under statement - i cant wait until tomorrow to have my baby back where nature intended him/her to be...

How cool is that!!!!!

Hope u had a great day at the Balmoral Show - it was beautiful weather for it

Hello Bec & Becks,
what a nice surprise.
I'm attending the Royal also. I had my et yesterday on my 4th ICSI with prof McClure.
Love the staff, not mad about admin lol. They basically are under resourced like everywhere I suppose.
Good luck girls

Yes I've had all treatment at the Royal. What kept me there really was Prof McClure, I have a lot of respect for him and I trust him.
I had a long gap between my 2nd and 3rd and with hindsight I would have definately gone to Origin rather than waste a year. The problem I had was every time I enquired RFC told me I was 3/4 months from being top of the list.....for a year aaaaargh !
The waiting lists are even worse now and time really is our #1 enemy so with that in mind I would always advise people starting out to go to Origins while they are waiting, assuming they can afford it. Everything is getting so expensive soon IVF will be the preserve of the rich.

I can't believe we are all on 2ww. My goodness Bec not long to go now, are you bearing up okay?

Hiya Becks......yes I think we are ! When was your ec ? mine was 22nd.
I'm feeling fine emotionally - it's early days lol but it's been the most painful tx I've had which I welcome actually, I just want everything to be different from the last 3. How are you ?
Are you both off work ?

Well - the fat lady played a live concert at my house at 3am this morning - its well and truley over for us - im in full flow now and in agony - not just physically.

Im heartbroken, but i cant cry yet - i dont know when that will come .... soon i hope ... Thanks for all ur support ladies, u really are amazing ....

I dont know where to go now, im not inbetween cycles - this was our last chance, no more goes, thats it .... have to face life without being able to give DH a child of his own .... how am i gonna live with that ????

I hate the Royal, sorry Fiona - but i hate them fr not keeping an eye on me ... im so angry with them!

Oh Becky I am so sorry. I'm realising I know the background to this. We both post on Northern Ireland Girls on ff too. No wonder you are angry. Is this definately the last go ? (we are on our last one so I do understand )
I'm not sure if this is the right time but I'm thinking when RFC were responsible for this cock up if there is any question of a refund or another tx? It just seems they should be held accountable when it's so clear that they did not keep tabs on you.
I wish I could say something to help Becky. The one truth that sticks with me is that it will get easier, every day just a bit until it stops being the first thing you think of and you start to find some happiness again just living in the moment.
I'm so sorry

Didnt realise u post on Norn Iron girls too .... ive only posted a few times there, it was nice to find a thread with just 'us' girls on there.

I dont think the Royal will say come and have another go - rules for NHS funding are, if your cycle is cancelled before u even get to EC - then its classed as a go.

I had the follies - but they had no eggs. There is a lady on this site which the same happened to, but she didnt get any eggs - they told her she had ovulated - im sure thats what happened to me - i was in agony a few days before and complained to the Royal and they scanned me and said - ur ok. I really felt that they didnt care about my treatment, they didnt once check DH's sperm, he never gave a sample there, they never took a FSH test for me - i was down regulating for a total of 38 days before i started stimms .... Monday after the ET on Friday i was so bloated and was rushed into admissions on the Monday night, but the following morning when i rung the clinic and told them that admisions wanted me back that morning to see the fertility nurse/DR - i was asked a few questions over the phone by one of the nurses, and then told it didnt sound like it was anything to worry about and i didnt need to come in. That was on the Tuesday morning - by Friday morning i was back in as i looked 8mths pregnant - they scanned me internally and sent me home.
Im not saying that i didnt have anything seriously wrong - but the way i was treated was terrible ... i complained before EC, during EC and then complained after ET and still nothing was done ....
Im not saying it made a difference to the outcome of my test, but - if they had looked after me and noticed that all those follies i had - had no dam eggs, they could have upped my drugs ...... i was told i had at least 6 eggs there ... i got 12 eggs at the origin, and was checked every 3rd day while on stimms .... The royal treat every person the same - but we are all different and have different needs ... they treat ur first lot of treatment with them as a trial run - well its not a trial run for us - its our lives....

Sorry for the rant lol - but u two are the only ones i can tell as the other ladies dont understand the way the Royal work ... xxxxxxxxx

Very true bec they do treat everyone the same, they dont seem to have the time to spend with you. maybe this is just NHS!!
Think it will take a lot of saving but will get to origin next time if it kills me.
Although I will love the royal if this works. lol
Think you are allowed to rant.

You are absolutely right. I've heard so many people say it's a one size fits all there.
When I first attended they only did one scan prior to ec, then something happened in England and it had to be changed.
I think they are trying to make the resources stretch to try to treat more people.

RE: RFC Belfast??

hi bec
im also new to this web post thing so excuse the bad computer skills.
i also am from co armagh and attend the RFC. currently to go for my icsi treatment but just waiting to be called since last april approx. at the top of the list but no letter yet. just wondering did they give u that definate march date to start stimulating. i think the prob is that they are under staffed. i am very interested about origin because if the royal dont call me soon i wouldn mind changing to origin. only it seems to be alot more expensive. and ive just read another post and someone mentioned that the ulster independant clinic also do ivf????
i cant complain about the RFC because in 2006 i had icsi tratment done and it resulted in the birth of my miracle baby boy....
my consultant was DR Traub but i will never want to see that man again he was such a horrible person so now im under the care of dr mc manus. i will ring the waiting list in the morning and c what the story is. talk soon Maevey

Not sure how much you have read in my signature - but my cycle failed with the Royal - we only got 1 egg = 1 embryo but it failed. I dont like the royal, im being honest .... the tx there is terrible. Obvisouly u feel differently as u had a sucess story with them and thats just great.

Are u NHS at the Royal, or private?

Ive just had my 3rd cycle at The Origin ... which resulted in a BFP but sadly our baby died and this was discovered at our 8week scan ... i miscarried on 31st Dec and am still in the process of losing ...

ivf

jesus bec im so sorry.
there is no words to describe how u must feel...
its one thing to have a negative after treatment but another to have a positive and then loose your baby..

but again like me u have to be thankful, u have 2 beautiful children they are whats its all about.. but i know thousands of thoughts are flying round in your head and thats prob not what u wanted to hear right now. x

i am private this time at the royal ,nhs the last time
what does BF stand for? n for negative and p positive but what does the BF mean.

was the egg collection better at origin had u more than at the royal and have u any frozen.

my egg collections were terrible very poor numbers and quality so none frozen 4 me . i know its not the time to decide but had u said that was your last time or is there ever a last time as long as u can afford it..
how is your husband does anyone think of the men in all this. i think they feel as bad but some how dont let it show as much. or may b yours lets it all out.
my husband didn talk much about our failed attempts but i think he would of felt worse if it was him that couldn produce the goods. because it was me that was the damaged goods it was easier for him to accept.. mayb im wrong.

hi girls i thought i'd say hello . i've already replied to maevey on another thread so sorry you have to read this all again! lol

firstly becks im so sorry to hear of your recent loss...i can't imagine what you n your dp must be going thru.

i had my appt with prof mc clure on sun to sign forms to start icsi due to endo and male factor. he has put us on nhs waiting list incase we need it but we are seeing him privately at origin. i've to have a lap 1st then we can get going straight away!

anything you girls think i should know as a newbie to this all cos im a bit clueless as to waht to expect. i know the basics of the procedures cos i've read up plenty since we got told in dec but there's always things the book and hosp staff don't tell you

origin

hi
dying to know about orgin as i rang the RFC this morn and sure as god they arnt taking any patients until april.... so thats it, ive had enough, a year waisted they are telling me that since may 08.
so i rang origin and they need a gp referral letter and its £50 to get my notes from RFC so atleast the ball is rolling and the lady said a couple of weeks for a consultation at £455 they know how to charge. but to hell ill get it from somewhere.
just need to know do u have a choice of doc at origin or who is the nicest. ive seen a few heartless docs in my time so i really need a nice one. the self esteem is very low, over weight is not on my side and a husband who is a smoker... but should all that come into it? hopefully not.
is the over all treatment about £5,000 or is there a load of hidden charges. please any one with advice about origin let me know. im an expert with ivf and icsi but not with knowing the right answers for these professors and doctors.

The Royal arnet taking on anyone until April cos they have so many NHS patients at the moment ... they treat them like a conveyor belft - one in - one out .... they treat them all the same - give all the same amount of drugs to everyone weather your 25 or 45 .... At the Origin u will get individual care and attention and will not be disapointed ... Only reason i had to go to the Royal was cos i had a NHS go - i wouldnt go back the if they offered me any more free goes - hand on heart i wouldnt!

I had 2 of my 3 cycles at The Origin. There are currently no waiting lists, so once ur in - ur in and the ball is rolling. Getting ur notes from the RFC - good luck to u, i have been trying since May to get mine - Dr Williamson from the RFC (who also works part time at The Origin) told me she would write Origin a letter with my details etc - The Origin are still waiting. I wouldnt hold out too much hope - BUT - keep fighting for them and keep on at them - the reception staff at The Royal (as u MUST know by now) are crap!! Good Luck with that side of things.

I dont know who told you that the consultation is £455, at Origin because thats way way too much - are u sure she didnt say £155??? Im sure mine was £160 back in June - there is no way it would have gone up to that much hun .... check it out again with them ...

Not sure that u get a choice at Origin of which Doc u get - usually what happens is - u get whoever is on duty at the time. I never asked to change, i was happy with whom i was given - We had Dr Sami Farrag - he doesnt speak much BUT he is a fantastic Dr and if anyone is gonna get you pg hun - he is the man to do it (so to speak lol) He did my EC and my ET - and im glad it was him, even tho he doesnt say much - he is very reasuring at the time. There is also Dr Kristine Steele who is lovely... Donna (who is the clinic manager) is lovely too ... to be honest with u hun .... i maybe biast, but the Origin is deff the place to go.

When u get there and walk in - u can feel the difference, i didnt like the Royal cos it was set out terrible, having to walk thru the maternity and see women walking around rubbing their bellies in labour, having kids running back an fo popping their head in the waiting room .... i just felt it wasnt the place to have a fertitly centre - could they not even put the entrance door at the other side, so we didnt have to walk passed and see all this!

I am also overweight - my BMI was too high and they asked me politely to lose a few lbs - which i did (i lost 12lbs) but the tx went ahead as planned before i had lost the weight ... i may aswell tell u - i am just 5ft 3 and i weight 13st 7lbs - they accepted me, im sure they will accept you. They will go over everything with u at ur first appt - trust me u will come out of there on a high - i know i always did. (I usually left The Royal feeling drained and pissed off) They may advise ur hubby about the smoking - but me and my DH dont smoke anyhow, so i wouldnt know..

We paid for our tmt .... over all £3,850 - but thats without the cost for AMH tests (u will only ever need 1 of these, they last for life) without the cost for inital consultation - (u need to ring them back £455 is wrong hun) and any other tests u may need. If u havent had a HIV test done in the past 6mths - u will need one of those too - its just paperwork, and they have to do it .... also your DH may need a sperm test, which is around £65/£85 - what a price for a w**k eh? lol. I know this all sounds daunting - but these tests need to be done even if u had them at The Royal if its been longer than 6/12mths ....

Thats about all i can think of for the time being - let me know when u get ur appt with them .... they are BRILL - keep ur PMA up - ur going to the right place Xxx

thanks bec
i cant believe it bout the notes from the royal i wrote the letter yesterday and posted the £50 cheque and expected the notes to arrive back with me in 2 days. more fool me!!!! well i wil just torture them to send them on.
yes the lady on the phone said it was £455 for the consultation, sperm test, blood tests etc so mayb thats why its so much.

i really just dread the consultaion because of my weight. i would be gutted if they said they cant go ahead until i loose some weight.. although my wee boy is nearly 3 i am heavier now than i was, when i was pregnant. its my own fault but somehow i cant loose it. i blame all the negativity of last year waiting to hear from the royal, my husband going on at me (any word from Belfast) every day, me ringing them and them paming me off:- oh your on top of the list so every month i would wait for the letter and more i would eat.... i know ~NO EXCUSE...

Dont worry about ur weight - like i said - im 13 an half stone! Im at a slimming class, but must admit i havent been there for a few weeks now - i was gonna go back on Monday, but after everything that has happened and i was in a lot of pain, i couldnt even get myself dressed let alone on scales an the umph to start again. If u have already sent letter and chq - make sure u keep on at them - did u send it via royal mail - signature post, that way u can track it an know if its been signed for (have to be clever in this life :snigger

I had a really bad day yesterday .... DH went back to work (i was meant to but have been giving time off until i feel ready to go back) and the house was just so quiet, and he wasnt here to hold me when i was down, so i was gettting worse as the day went on ... my MIL came to visit at 4pm and i was right then .... she lets me talk about whats on my mind, holds my hand and lets me cry, so it was good to be able to do that with her .... then DH cae home and gave me one of the nicest cuddles - i missed him awfully yesterday - lets hope today is a better day for me

i couldn believe it today my mobile rang and it was the RFC to say my notes were ready. must b collected in person with photo id, so im going tomorro. then get my letter of refferal on mon and ring back origin....

I'm another Newbie so bit unsure of things! Is this the Northern Ireland post that i'm on?

I posted my story on the 'calling all newbies' thread but didn't realise this thread was here. I was searching for NI Ladies.

I'm 31 and DH50. He has 2 girls from a previous marriage (26 and 23)who live in England with their boyfriends. We have no children together .

DH reffered for a reversal vasectomy op in late 2003. Waited until 2006 for OP! But it didn't work
We were referred to RFC and had our 1st app Jan07. Waited until Aug07 for a biopsy and then just for the crack we waited again until Dec07 for the official results! Been waiting ever since for NHS 1st ICSI.

I've been told since start Nov08 that we are 14th on list- haven't moved since! When i last phoned RFC i was told they had been given funding for another 200cycles but that still don't make my list move any faster. (Northern Board)

icsi

hi faith
im also new to this post stuff.... if u read my thread i had a successful icsi treatment done at the RFC and have a fantastic 3 yr old boy. since then decided to try again and since about july 2007 i have been up the list and since july 08 i have been at the top of the list and still no app to go ahead.. i really feel like roaring the head of that admin girl who answers the phone, i ring at least twice a month. so i have now decided i've had enough and im changing clinic. to origin also in belfast hopefully consultation in the next 10 days fingers crossed.

so if your 14 on the list good luck to u. i think the problem is short staffing or something. who told u bout 200 cycles to go ahead?
who was your consultant?

i presume the reversal still didn work and thats why u need isci. if i were u and if u have a few pound go somewhere private until the RFC get their act together.

Just replied on your other thread!
Wlecome to FZ! The girls are all fantastic and a great help when Im not coping the best!
Im currently at the RFC. I was under Prof McClure privatley and we are waiting for our next journey of injections!

It is great another NI girl here, there are quite a few on here. Im sure there will be more along soon!

Faith: Hello and welcome here, this is a brill site for any info u may need .... not just with the RFC or Origin ... but in general ...

Im sorry, but i cant have nothing good to say about the Royal - but i know many women who have had much sucess with them ...

I have had 3 cycles - our first was private @ Origin, our second was NHS @ RFC and our 3rd was again private @ Origin ...

First cycle wasnt too good for us, we got 12 eggs with Origin, but choose just to fertalize x 2 and no more (due to personal/religious reasons) we got 2 x embryos put back, but they both just 2 x cell on a day 2 transfer = BFN

Second cycle (with the RFC) was hit and miss from the very begining ... i was given less drugs than what i received off Origin, even tho my age was (at the time) 39 - we ended up with just 1 x egg, this produced a 4 x cell embryo but again resulted in a negative ... There are a number of reasons why i didnt like the RFC, but wont go into them now as i dont want to put anything into ur head right now, everyone has their own opinions and some women love the place, who am i to say differently ...

Our 3rd cycle was back at Origin ... here we got 15 eggs (see the difference between RFC and Origin for giving drugs!!) anyway, we put back 2 x embryos (1 x 8 cell and 1 x 6 cell) tis resulted in a positive pregnancy, but sadley it didnt progress beyond 6 and a half weeks, and i miscarried the baby when i was 8 and a half weeks pregnant (just 2 weeks ago today)

The RFC have a policy at the moment that they have so many NHS patients, they are not even taking on any private patients as they are so full. The reason u are not moving on the list is beacause when people have been on it for so long, they are sometimes put on hold for tests, which can make ur wait that much longer. I dont know how it worked for me, but we were only on the list from Feb 07 - Jan 08 a total of 11 mths????? I rung up in the November 2007 to be told we were number 43 on the list .... but a mth later i got a letter in the post saying we had reached the top and could i let them know when my Jan period arrives ..... ???? I was stunned, but went ahead anyhow. We had to have HIV tests etc, but they forgot to tick my DH's box for that particular test, so when my period did arrive, we couldnt start until his results were back - which meant we had to wait another mth (thats what i mean about being kept on hold - they cant just ring the next person up on the list an fit them in, as it has to go on the date of patients next period) so then the next person on the list, was kept on hold for another mth while they awaited the test results for my DH's tests .... that sort of thing ... They say they go thru about 4 or 5 couples per mth (???) so i wud say ur waiting time (if no one has to wait on tests etc) should be about 4 - 5 mths but please dont rely on what im saying ... it also depends on what tx u are having, ivf is done on certain days, and ICSI is the same ... they will work ur cycle around to the date that when the icsi clinic is on .... complicated i know - at the Origin, u get what u pay for - i cant praise them enough, and thats not only cos i got pg with them, but cos of the way they treat their patients, like individuals ... i felt the Royal didnt know who was who or even give a shit about their patients ... sorry, im rambling ....

Anyhow, i do wish u luck in getting up the list ... and also luck with ur cycle, i hope it works for you hun, how many free goes do u get? is it just the one cos ur hubby already has children???

My follow up appt in Feb 16th at Origin. I cant wait to get started again for cycle number 4 - will have to wait for my period first - but have been told that after a m.c they can be a tad longer than normal ....

Hope everyone else is ok here ... Kezza, when does ur tx start???

Maeveyid u get ur files from RFC .... when is ur appt @ Origin???

xxxx

This post has been edited 2 times, last edit by "Welshbird" (Jan 15th 2009, 11:34pm)